Her First day of First Grade

(Katie with the class pet "Ziggy" after her first day of school)

Well sort of. It was her first day of first grade...and it was two months ago.

I'm not going to lie, it was rough for both of us. I was terrified for her. New country, new school and no friends. Not exactly comforting thoughts for a mommy. If you know my daughter she is not shy, usually jumps right in and is super friendly. When she didn't it really got me worried. She shrunk down and nestled her tiny body right against mine as we made the walk to her classroom and met her teacher. At that moment I wanted to whisk her away from here back to 2059 Stratford Drive and Highland Park Elementary. Back to the life we had only two weeks before. I yearned for our family, friends, the familiarity and the comfort we felt there. I wanted to protect her and keep her small and all mine. But I didn't. I hugged and kissed her and told her I would be back to get her and to have a great day. I put on my big mommy face and I left her.

The whole walk home I had all sorts of crazy thoughts going through my head. Like, how will she ever understand her teacher. I still didn't know what her name was and I asked her to repeat it twice! Was it Miss Pollock, Pollart, Pollor or Pollot. After the second time of asking, mind you she had said her name once already so this was really number three, I could tell there was no way I could ask again. Sad thing was I could tell Katie was equally as confused as I was. I worried whether or not the other kids would be nice to her. Would they make fun of the way she looks or talks or think she was weird? Because lets be honest kids can be super mean. Finally, I wondered if she would be totally confused coming into the middle (school is year round and starts in January) of first grade. Had we prepared her enough? Could I have done anything different? Should we really have come here? And, why were there so many children not wearing shoes? It was a very long walk home in the rain that morning.

When I finally picked her up she seemed all right. She said she didn't understand most of what the teacher or the other kids were saying. But, they were nice to her and hadn't made fun of the way she talked. Phew! Apparently, they have "morning tea" otherwise known as snack time every day and I had blown it already by not including something in her lunch for that. Woops!

They all call her "Katherine." I have to admit that I secretly love it. The way they say it sounds so formal and it makes me love her name more than I ever have before. I have always hoped that someday she would transition into it from Katie. Don't get me wrong she's a perfect Katie, but we named her Katherine because we loved it but, it was hard to look at this little tiny baby and call her by such a big name. Good news is she loves being called Katherine and has asked me to call her that more lately. :)

She still has some rough days here and there. I have noticed this whole experience has cut her confidence down quite a bit. She is a little less outgoing than she was before and she seems a bit more affected by what kids say and do. The other day she commented on how she feels like everyone is always staring at her and she doesn't like it. Unfortunately, it's probably true, but she does stick out a bit. For some reason you can tell she/we look American and I'm not sure what exactly it is that makes us look that way. She has said she wishes she could just go back to her friends and school in Utah. And that breaks my heart. But thankfully, most days she's happy to go and comes home happy!

So fast forward to now and some thoughts on school here.

-The head of education here is called "The Ministry of Education." I sometimes slip up and call it "The Ministry of Magic." All I can think of is Harry Potter whenever I hear or see it.

-Holy moly they are ahead in math. We've had to do some serious catch up at home. But, they are slightly behind in reading. Go figure? We generally spend 1-2 hours every night working on math catch up and keeping her up to speed with the US reading level. Sometimes it's frustrating because I feel like I'm homeschooling her after she's just spent an entire day at school. But the poor girl needs the social and the structure.

-She is learning how to speak Maori.

-They have very little homework. A simple story to read each night that most days is already read in class and a homework sheet due once a week.

-They have all sorts of extra stuff to participate in like surfing and swimming during school which is pretty cool. They also go to the beach a lot for recess.

-There is no school lunch accept on MWF if you pay in advance. The average cost for a lunch is 6-10 dollars. A far cry from the $1.25 the US charges! She just takes her own at those prices!

-Kids don't wear shoes if they don't want to and it's totally fine with the school. I would say about 50% on an average day don't wear them and 75% on a warmer day. And, it isn't exactly tropical here right now. We'll see what summer brings.

-School hours are shorter and start later. And it's year round with an longer break in December and January. I am actually loving the year round thing right now.

-Most schools wear uniforms...hers doesn't. I'm told it's the whole beachy laid back attitude of parents here as to why her school doesn't. The junior high and high school girls wear culottes with a collared shirt, sweater and tights. And the boys, wear a dressier pair of long shorts, knee socks, a collared shirt and sweater. They look so nice. I'm all about expressing individuality, but honestly uniforms look so great and seem so easy.

-They run a km every day at the start of school. Maybe the US should start doing that!

-The school building itself is totally different from any in the states. It's more like a series of nice separate buildings that open into a common area full of all sorts of cool drawings on ground. Seems like it's straight out of a movie set to me. Not sure why.

-The classrooms are similar to those in the US, but totally decked out in colorful artwork. I love color and so it's like my dream learning environment. So visually inviting. I'm such a sucker for art time with paint and watercolor. It totally excites me! So, the fact that this is a regular thing in class thrills me. It seems so much of this has been lost in the states due to budget cuts and it makes me sad. Those were some of my favorite activities in school and I'm glad she gets to have that opportunity here!

Our sweet Katie.....or Katherine as she prefers these days

I'm not sure how it happened, but she did it. She turned seven on me! How is it possible that I have a seven year old?!

My dear sweet girl,

You are seven today and I can hardly believe it. It seems like only yesterday we were bringing you home from the hospital. We new we were luckiest two people on the earth to be your parents. We were over the moon. You were the perfect little person to start our family.

Here are just a few things about you on your seventh birthday.

You are such a smart little girl and a voracious reader. You adore reading. Most mornings I find you sitting in front of the heater with your nose in a book. It makes my heart sing to know that you love books. You have an insatiable desire to learn and try new things.

You are stubborn. I suppose you didn't have a chance on that one with your mommy and daddy being who they are. We've locked horns a few times, but mom and dad always seem to win out!

You are my little gazelle. You've got these little legs of steal. You love to ski, run and ride your bike. Any you are awesome. You are so excited to start tennis lessons. I'm sure you'll be a natural.

You are fearless in so many ways, and yet I love those moments when you let me know that you still need me. That you want me to be close, to hold you hand and make you feel safe. I know these days are numbered so I'm savoring each one of them. Yesterday, you asked me if I would sit with you at the movie during the school field trip. It made my heart soar. When I asked you to please stop growing you told me couldn't, but that you wanted to stay with me forever and ever. I love that.

You've been a trooper these last few months. I know it has been difficult to keep up with all the changes. You've done so well going to a new school in a country, trying to understand what the teacher is saying and making new friends. You are a natural at making friends. It amazes me how you just jump in like you've known each other for ever. I'm sorry that we have put you through so much when you are so little. I feel like you have been thrown from pillar to post.

You adore your brothers and they you. I love that you are so motherly to baby John without even being taught. It makes me laugh when you talk to him in your own little version of "motherese." You are such a wonderful sister to them. You are already fiercely protective of them. Just the other day another little boy wouldn't let Joey down the slide and you were so sweet. You said, "Come on Joe, I'll make it so you can go down." Then you marched right over to that mean boy and said, "My brother wants to go down this slide and he can." And, that was that. You sent such a powerful message to him of loyalty and love. In that moment I saw him idolize you.

You love to go to church and read the scripture readers. I'm certain you know those stories better than I did when I was little. You are very concerned about doing the right thing and not disappointing your Heavenly Father. Primary songs are some of your favorite and you have the most beautiful singing voice.

I love that you are just starting to taste who you want to be as a person. I have seen you exert so much more independence in these last few months. I love that you are so confident with yourself, and yet, I'm terrified for you. I wish I could keep you safe from all the awful things of the world, but I know I can't. In order to see the beauty this world has to offer you must experience the bad. And, that is part of what will help mold you into the person your Father in Heaven wants you to be. I hope I have done enough to instill at your young age that you are a daughter of God and a very precious soul to Him and to your mom and dad. Please remember that my darling daughter.

My sweet baby girl, you are beauty. I love that God has allowed me to be your mother. I'm learning that you are teaching me far more than I can ever teach you. Thank you for being mine.

Love,

Mommy

I have dreams of my Honda Pilot....

Well, here she is in all her glory. My ride.

She was hard to come by. I found her on a website called TradeMe. It's New Zealand's cross between Ebay and Craigslist. I'm pretty sure I overpaid for her by three times, but it was one of those things where I just had to win. I had already run the distance with the boys in a double stroller next to Katie on her bike for two days and my legs were raw. And when I say raw I mean bleeding from all the scratching due to the uncontrollable itching....that's right, I'm allergic to running. So, unless it was going to cost more than a brand new trailer or a car I was going to pay it. And, I think "usearch and doofa78" felt the same way. The lame thing about this site is it auto extends. Meaning, if anyone bids in the last 2 minutes they extend the auction. So here I am bidding thinking I should have won yadda amount of dollars ago and we're still going driving the price up for fifteen extra minutes. Sheesh! Finally, the aforementioned bidders realized this was far too much to pay for one measly trailer and they allowed me to win. Success!

You should see the looks we get with this bad boy. People will literally stop what they are doing, look and point as we drive by. I've had people even slow down to a crawl as they drive by and just gawk. Absolutely no subtleness about it. It's really quite funny. You would think we had three heads to something.

The trailer is tight for the boys, but they seem to do fine most of the time. There are the occasional battles that require a stop, but for the most part they've done really well. I think they think it's fun in there. Every morning we have to wait while they decide which item (saws, screwdrivers, sunglasses, books, sticks, balloons etc) will accompany them on the trip. Their biggest complaint is helmets, but even that has become so normal that it's not a battle anymore.

Fortunately, the road we take to Katie's school is super bike friendly. There is a bike path for most of the way that parallels street parking next to the beach. So most of the time we can even ride side by side. I'm sure that will all change in a month or two as the tourists poor in and take all the parking spots. All in all it really is a fun way to get her to and from school. She tells me all about her day on the ride home and I can give her mostly one on one listening with the boys in the trailer. Another plus is I don't have to deal with the traffic when picking her up. It's a pretty smooth way of doing things.....on the days that are nice. And when it's nice it is breathtaking.

Now let's talk about the weather.

We're mostly home bound, just because everything is so far away that I'm totally sweaty and stinky by the time we get there, it takes forever to get anywhere and I don't want the boys to become sick of riding so they fight all the way to and from school because that is something we have to do, and most of the other roads are little dangerous for riding with a trailer.

And, the weather. Oh, the weather. It can be pretty harsh sometimes. We've ridden in torrential downpours with the rain going every way but, down. That required a full change of clothing for Katie by the time she got to school because she was soaked. Oh, and did I mention that was picture day. Yep! Currently we are dealing with 30-40 mph winds that always end up in a headwind no matter what direction you're going. Seriously, it's the most baffling thing. I think the wind swirls here or something. On Tuesday, it was so bad it knocked me off my bike and almost tipped the entire trailer over. And poor Katie was riding at a 45 degree angle and then got pelted with a gust of sand. At one moment we were trying to cross a street and we literally couldn't move our bikes it was blowing so hard. And, yesterday someone mentioned this is normal weather for about three weeks. Hmmm, that's just the amount of time until the end of this term. Great timing.

Now that I've painted such an awful picture I really must admit that I enjoy riding to school and on nice days I would prefer to ride vs drive. I'm quite sure this is the only time in my life I will ever get to ride a bike next to the ocean everyday and it really is wonderful. But, if I could just have my Pilot on those bad days.

This is precisely why I have dreams of my Pilot.....